Author: George

Last week’s answer: £16X + £4Y. She works for four days a week, earning £X on each day, so each week she earns £4X plus her weekly bonus of £Y. For four weeks, you must multiply both values by four to get (4 x £4X = £16X) + (4 x £Y = £4Y) = £16X + £4Y.

This week’s problem: What is the next number in the sequence 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 . . . ?

The answer will be in next week’s weekly problem.

Last week’s answer: 1 in 4, 25%, 0.25 or 1/4. There are four suits in the pack of 52, each with 13 cards, so the probability of picking a spade is 13 in 52 or 1 in 4.

This week’s problem: Betsy earns £X per day and works 4 days a week. She also gets £Y per week as a bonus. How much does Betsy earn in 4 weeks?

The answer will be in next week’s weekly problem.

Last week’s answer: 6 presents. 3 metres = 300 centimetres, and 50 cm goes into 300 cm 6 times.

This week’s problem: Ian has a pack of 52 cards. He chooses one at random. What is the probability that his card is a spade?

The answer will be in next week’s weekly problem.

Last week’s answer: 1200 blueberries. 2/5 of 4000 = 1600, so there are 1600 strawberries. 30% of 4000 = 1200, so there are 1200 raspberries. Therefore there are 4000 – 1600 – 1200 = 1200 blueberries.

This week’s problem: I am wrapping Christmas presents. I have 3m of ribbon, and I need 50cm for each present. How many presents will I be able to wrap?

The answer will be in next week’s weekly problem.

Last week’s answer: 3 hours 36 minutes. The total surface area of the metal cube is 6 x 3 squared = 54 square metres. Freda takes 8 minutes to paint 2 square metres, so she will take 54 / 2 = 27 lots of 8 minutes to paint the whole cube. 27 x 8 minutes = 216 minutes, which is 3 hours and 36 minutes.

This week’s problem: Greg’s Grocers has a box of 4000 fruits. 2/5 are strawberries, 30% are raspberries and the rest are blueberries. How many blueberries are in the box?

The answer will be in next week’s weekly problem.

Last week’s answer: 4/10, 1/2, 11/20, 3/5, 3/4. The easiest way to do this is making every fraction have the same denominator. In this case, we would use 20, as all of the denominators are factors of 20. 1/2 = 10/20, 4/10 = 8/20, 3/5 = 12/20, 11/20 = 11/20 (obviously!) and 3/4 = 15/20. Then you just organise them by increasing numerator as follows: 8/20, 10/20, 11/20, 12/20, 15/20. Then convert back to the original fractions.

This week’s problem: It takes Freda 8 minutes to paint 2 square metres of metal. How long will it take Freda to paint a metal cube with sides 3m?

The answer will be in next week’s weekly problem.

Last week’s answer: It is 60p cheaper. 16 chocolate bars individually cost a total of 16 x 30p = £4.80. Therefore it is £4.80 – £4.20 = 60p cheaper to buy a deal pack.

This week’s problem: Arrange the following fractions in size order, from smallest to largest.

1/2, 4/10, 3/5, 11/20, 3/4.

The answer will be in next week’s weekly problem.

Last week’s answer: 35. This is a question to test your maths vocabulary more than skills. The sum of 4 and 3 is 4 + 3 = 7, and the difference between 7 and 2 is 7 – 2 = 5. The product of these two numbers is 5 x 7 = 35.

This week’s problem: A deal pack of 16 chocolate bars costs £4.20. An individual chocolate bar costs 30p. How much cheaper is it to buy a deal pack of chocolate bars than 16 individually?

The answer will be in next week’s weekly problem.

Last week’s answer: 21 squared. This is a fact that you simply have to either memorise or calculate during the exam, as questions like this can come up. It also requires knowledge of the term ‘more than’, as the answer 20 squared (= 400) is incorrect.

This week’s problem: What is the product of the sum of 4 and 3, and the difference between 7 and 2?

The answer will be in next week’s weekly problem.

Last week’s answer: Diane is 20 years old. The average before Diane is (9 + 12 + 15) / 3 = 12 years old. Therefore the average after her is 12 + 2 = 14. So the total of all of their ages is 14 x 4 = 56. Subtract the original total of ages (9 + 12 + 15 = 36) to get 56 – 36 = 20.

This week’s problem: What is the first square number greater than 400?

The answer will be in next week’s problem.